1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an LED unit having an LED chip, a bus bar, and a housing, disposed in a vehicle cabin, to a connector to which the LED unit is connected, and to a method for producing a connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
A room illumination device is for illuminating a vehicle cabin is mounted on a vehicle cabin. For example, an LED lamp module (also referred to as LED unit) of which light source is an LED (Light Emitting Diode) is used as the room illumination device (See Patent Document 1).
The LED lamp module described in Patent Document 1 integrally includes: an LED; and a holder for holding the LED. The LED integrally includes an LED chip; a pair of lead terminals of which one end is connected to the LED chip, and the other end is connected to an electric wire; and a resin lens for molding the LED chip.
When producing the LED lamp module, firstly, a chain body in which a plurality of lead terminals is connected with connecting parts is made by pressing a plate metal. Then, the LED chip is connected to one end of a pair of lead terminals among the lead terminals, and the one end of the lead terminals and the LED chip are disposed on one of cavities of a die, and then a resin lens in which the lead terminal and the LED chip are embedded is formed. Thus, a plurality of LEDs connected to each other is produced.
Then, the plurality of LEDs is respectively disposed on the cavities of a die to form a holder in which the LED is embedded. Thus, a plurality of LED lamp modules connected to each other is produced. Lastly, the connecting parts of the chain body are cut off to separate the LED lamp modules.
Thus, because the LED lamp module integrally includes: the LED chip; the lead terminals; the resin lens; and the holder, the number of assembling process is reduced. However, when a grade of a vehicle is changed and the LED (LED chip) is changed, a shape of the LED lamp module should be changed, and dies for forming the resin lens and the holder should be changed. Thus, production cost is increased.
Consequently, for example, a pair of terminals to be connected to the LED may be embedded in the holder, and the terminals may be connected to the LED at a post process. The one end of the terminal is connected to an anode of the LED, and the other end of the terminal is connected to a cathode of the LED.    [Patent Document 1] Japanese Published Patent Application No. 2005-93900
As described above, when the LED is connected to the pair of terminals embedded in the holder at the post process, for surely connecting the LED, the terminals should be embedded at positions where the terminals can be connected to the anode and the cathode of the LED. At this time, if a distance between the terminals is too small, the anode (or the cathode) of the LED may be connected to both of the terminals, and the terminals may be short-circuited. In particular, when the LED is a chip-type LED, because contact areas of the anode and the cathode are large, the terminals may be more easily short-circuited.
Incidentally, in a conventional LED unit (LED lamp module), when using a high-intensity LED, there is a problem that heat generated by the LED chip cannot be efficiently radiated.
Further, in the conventional LED unit, because an electric wire is in pressure-contact just next to an LED package, and a straight bus bar connects the LED chip with a pressure-contact part of the electric wire, there is a problem that an impact generated by the pressure-contact is easily transmitted to the LED package, and soldering performance of the LED chip is affected by the impact.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing a connector, and to provide a connector and an LED unit to allow a gap between part-connecting portions of a pair of terminals embedded in a housing to be equal to or more than a specific distance.
Another object of the present invention is to provide the LED unit to allow heat of the LED chip to be radiated efficiently, and to allow an impact upon connecting an electric wire to be hardly transmitted to an LED package.